Hello All!

I am new to the forum and may become a s40 owner shortly. I was wondering if I could get some advice on people's experience with the 2005 s40 T5 FWD. Is it reliable? Have you had a lot of problems? Anything specifically I should check before purchasing? Should I run for the hills and buy something else?

The car I am looking at is a 2005 S40 T5 FWD with under 40K miles. Its CPO and seems to be in really good shape. It rides nice and is pretty fast (by my standards). I'm a software engineer and know very little about cars. Everything I read leads to problems with the 2005 s40 2.4i. However, everyone seems to love their 2005 s40 t5 model. Is this all of your opinions as well? Any input appreciated.


Thanks in advance!
Brian Rock

 

I'd do a search on Swedespeed.com. I did an awful lot of research before buying my '05 T5 w/ 46K on it, it's a six-speed...bought it 3 weeks ago. I love driving this car, and love the looks. One owner, all dealer maintained, passed pre-purchase inspection w/ flying colors, looks/feels like new, etc.

I'm probably going to sell it very soon. In my first ten days the DDM went haywire- that's going to be 820.00. Now it's looking as though the alarm is acting hinky. The more I dig the more I see that these are not as reliable as later models...my bad...I thought I'd dug quite deep. I still think they're good cars, but mine already gives me the heebs. I guess the DDM and the attitude of the dealer soured it for me. In 18 years of Audi's and BMW's I never had such a high repair bill for such a (relatively) simple electronic issue (it's just a module, and while it's a bit of a pain to get to it doesn't warrant 820 bucks.) I have a warranty, but it's only for engine/drivetrain...not electrical (the achilles heel of this car.)

Oh, and to answer your Q you'll want to see if the PCV thing has been worked out (if it hasn't, no biggie as there's an extended warranty on this item) as well as the DDM/door harness issue, and a host of other things. Confirm the history (don't just take carfax's word for it) and if you can go CPO (sounds as though you are, so I think for you it'll be a somewhat safe bet as long as you don't mind the trips to the dealer.)

Good luck!

 

Thank EricV. I went ahead with the purchase. it's CPO and has about 2 years of the warranty left, so I hope I am covered. Time will tell. I love the car though, handling is great, acceleration is good, and it looks fantastic.

Thanks for your comments.

I'd love to hear from more of you out there.

Thanks
Brian

 

I've had my 05 T5 for about 5 months now and have only had one problem with it that the tech quickly and easily fixed (had something to do with the oil filter housing--they were vague with the details.) It was an expensive repair, but I chose to take it to a Volvo dealer--clearly the better choice in this particular case.

The only thing I don't like about the vehicle is the gas mileage. I was used to a 95 Jetta (5 speed) that would get up to 35 mpg on the highway. Max I've gotten so far with the S40 is 28. Putting premium in isn't helping my wallet any, but the performance is much better.

Overall I consider her a great buy. As I've mentioned in previous posts my father has an 01 S80 with almost 200,000 miles that runs as well as the day we bought it. I'm definitely a Volvo girl for life.